In Pursuit of Independence
by Skeptical Wobbuffet
Summary: Three young trainers (a wry, cynical, lazy-but-talented slacker; his bubbly, somewhat-spoiled, twin sister; and a female classmate with strikingly bad luck) form an a tentative bond with each other and their Pokemon. Together they embark on what ought to have been a normal tour of the gym circuit. But they soon find themselves wrapped up in a mysterious crime committed by a Zoroak.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One - Three Trainers

People were cheering for Rose as she ascended the stairs to the double row of columns that guarded the entrance to the laboratory. Endless petals streamed through the air like confetti. At the top, Doctor Lazarus was waiting for her, beaming proudly. "Today is your special day, my child." He told her, and his voice was solemn and benign. He extended a wizened hand and presented a solid gold pokeball to her. It opened in a splash of light.

"A shiny vulpix!" Rose gasped. The little fox Pokemon looked up at her and then jumped up into her arms, mewling cutely. Rose caught it in a hug and did a little spin, laughing. She held her new partner up Lion-King-style to show the crowd.

Rose woke up in her bed with a startled grunt. Something was vibrating. She rolled over and her phone, no longer trapped under her, proceeded to blare a rather startling alarm (she had turned the volume all the way up last night, after all). Frantically Rose checked the time. "Waaaah! It's already that late?" She scrambled out of bed and got changed in a hurry. Without time to attend to her hair, or the limited quantity of makeup her father allowed her, like she had planned, Rose threw on a big hoodie over her t-shirt and found some clean pants in a pile waiting to be folded and put away.

"ROSE!" her dad shouted from the kitchen. "Where's my lunch?"

"It's in the fridge, in the garage!" She shouted back. Before dashing out into the living room to grab her bag.

Her dad came into the room dressed in a pair of overalls and a plaid shirt. A tool belt was fastened around his waist and he was holding a thermos of coffee and a lunchbox. "Good luck today sweetheart," he said, "your mother would be proud if she could see you now."

Rose just smiled hastily. She threw on her backpack and hurried out the front door. She ran to her bike and felt in her pockets for the keys to the bike lock but she couldn't find them anywhere. "Haahhh!?" she sighed in frustration and ran back to the front door. It had locked automatically behind her. Cursing her absent-mindedness Rose rushed around the tiny house, hopped over the low white fence, and reached the garage. Her father's truck was pulling out of the driveway and into the street and she had just enough time to get inside before the garage closed. She dove for her narrowing window of opportunity and managed to roll inside. A few minutes later she was on her bike and the big oak tree that marked the entrance to the lab was coming into view.

* * *

Meanwhile, two other locals teens had already arrived. It was rather anticlimactic when the twins saw nothing but three pokeballs on the table. Chester of course thought it would be funny if one of the pokeballs contained something that really sucks. The old Pokémon doctor and scientist just gave them a smile that his twin found very 'wrinkly and weird.' Chelsea decided she wasn't going to be impolite though, even if she was very excited and really wanted to know what was in the pokeballs. The doctor, or professor as a few call him, was named Lorenzo Lazarus. Dressed in nothing but his usual business attire, and a lab coat, the old man looked exactly what they call him. Chester often suspected that a man of such dully cliche appearance must be hiding something.

"Good morning, Doc." They both managed to say at the same time, earning a slight chuckle from the old man in front of them. She should have been annoyed at that, but she didn't mind at the minute. "I'll pick first." She said, taking the initiative knowing that Chester wouldn't mind. He would have been late anyway, if it wasn't for her. Plus, they had a talk already. The old man nodded.

"Now, I know both of you have been informed on how to handle Pokémon correctly, so I trust both of you will be good trainers." The doctor started to say, coughing a bit as he smiled. No doubt, the intelligent man knew how excited both of them were – seeing as they were quite early. "There are only three starters available, a togepi, a swinub and a gastly." He pointed to each sealed red and white sphere respectively. "Now, which one will you choose?" He asked, gesturing towards the three pokeballs on the table.

Chelsea already had her mind on what she would choose the second she heard it. She walked and stood right in front of the first pokeball that contained the togepi. She gingerly took the ball into her hands. "I choose this!" She said, grinning.

"That pokeball contains the Pokémon togepi, a fairy type, female and a baby Pokémon. You can take a look at her if you want. Are you sure you want that?" Doc asked, and Chelsea replied with a certain yes, not bothering to open the pokeball. If her Pokémon doesn't want her, it's not like there's any choice.

"We'll meet our Pokémon at the same time." Chelsea declared. It wasn't like she was scared. There were just a few things that a person can do once in a lifetime, and she wanted to experience it at the same time her twin does – even if he probably doesn't care about her as much as she cared about him. She can't really tell sometimes. The old scientist sagely nodded at her proclamation, probably assuming that their twin 'bond' runs deep.

Without missing a beat, Chester just took the pokeball that contained the gastly, leaving the Swinub alone on the table. "Gastly, right?" He asked the old man before holding the ball in that certain way. Chelsea mirrored the action, and they both released the Pokémon contained within the pokeballs in their hands. With a bright light, the two Pokémon appeared.

Both looked confused for a few seconds, but when they saw the pokeballs held by the twins, they immediately knew. It was the female togepi that reacted first, yelling a very high-pitched "Togepii!" and running on her little round feet, stubby hands outstretched towards Chelsea. Chelsea, of course, squealed and scooped the tiny baby Pokémon into her arms.

"Yes." She cooed hugging the Pokémon before holding it right in front of her and locking eyes. "Yes, I'm your trainer. I'm Chelsea." She continued, a bit on the babying tone. "And you're mine now. We're going to be best friends."

As Chelsea got acquainted with togepi, Chester just stood awkwardly as his new Pokémon cackled around him. He felt a bit chilly as gastly rounded him up, circling around him, eyes planted on him and fangs obviously shown while grinning. There was no way he was going to hug gastly though, as his new Pokémon was mostly made up of poisonous gas – which he knew because he had always been a fan of dark, ghost and psychic types. He was very glad, even if the only evidence of that is the slight smirk on his face.

Then the scientist cleared his throat, earning the attention of all of them. Just when he was about to speak though, someone arrived loudly.

* * *

"Please don't be the last one, please don't be the last one."

Rose's mantra persisted until she ran out of breath. She let herself coast downhill. Outside of the lab her bicycle collided slowly with a trashcan and upended with her on it. The back wheel was still spinning as she staggered, panting, up the steps into the building, throwing the doors open dramatically.

"Yo, Doc! I'm here!" She shouted.

Rose's heart sank when she saw the twins with their Pokemon. It was too late! She was already the last one here. Standing in the doorway, feeling very self-conscious of her heavy breathing and sweatiness, Rose forced a smile.

"H-hey Chelsea, Hi Chester!" She managed to say brightly while she scurried over to the table to inspect the last pokeball.

"Hey Rose!" Chelsea greeted enthusiastically, waving a hand. Togepi, her incredibly cute Pokémon, chirped as enthusiastically as well. It seemed at that moment that their personalities matched well. Chester remained silent.

"Ahh, Hello, Rose. It's a swinub, if you're still interested in getting a Pokemon today." Doctor Lazarus looked over the rim of his glasses at her.

"Yes! of course!" Rose countered, still flushed. She was just thankful there was still one left for her.

"It's not exactly-" The professor was saying, when Rose, overeager, picked up the ball and released the Pokemon hidden inside.

It emerged with a pig-like grunt. Rose looked flabberghasted. 'This has to be the dumbest Pokémon ever...' she thought. Swinub lay flat on the floor and heaved a big sigh. It looked like a hairy ottoman with a little snout sticking out of one end. It was big, for a starter. It didn't seem interested in anything that was happening around it. Chelsea watched as Rose got her Pokémon, and felt that it was a bit of a pity, really, that Rose seemed not-so-keen to have the rather fat swinub.

"Hey... s-swinub." Rose said timidly, squatting down on her haunches and poking it. Swinub just wheezed and furrowed its shaggy brows.

"He seems healthy." Chelsea said helpfully, as she observed the Pokémon wheezing. For some odd reason, she felt very lucky they got here earlier. She knew in her mind that there was no way her twin would settle for a swinub. He would have walked right out of the lab if he had been presented with a swinub, of all Pokémon. If she had been the one to be given the swinub, she wouldn't mind that much. Something so deprived of beauty and cuteness must be blessed with something else, right?

Chester, on the other hand, couldn't help but snicker. Healthy was the last thing on his mind, but then again, he wasn't really that personally alike with his twin. Chelsea shot him an automatic glare for his reaction, but he could care less. Rose, herself, seemed disappointed.

"Doc, is he okay?" Rose asked.

"I'm afraid this swinub has been here far too long in the lab. He's gotten very lazy and he's a bit too attached to me." Lazarus, usually scowling, looked a little sheepish.

Rose wilted. "It's okay, professor. I'll take good care of him." She made no effort to conceal the disappointment in her voice.

Lazarus chuckled. "I know you will, Rose. That's why I offered you a Pokémon in the first place. Now wait here, Oak keeps sending me Pokedexes and if I don't start giving them away I'll never get rid of them." Lazarus shuffled off into the back room and the sound of muttering and rooting through boxes soon drifted through the door.

Rose looked up at the twins. "Since we all have Pokemon now..." She said, standing and inclining her head so that her hoodie shaded her eyes. "Let's fight!"

"I'm game for it." Chester said, crossing his arms as his Pokémon floated around.

"Me too!" Chelsea chimed in after. "Although, let's go easy on each other! Our Pokémon are still weak after all."

"Rock, papers, scissors." The male twin said, and the other twin agreed. They tuned out Rose for a few seconds. Three swift plays and Chester won with scissors, scissors and paper.

"Okay." Chelsea said, "You go first." To be honest, she didn't want to battle with Rose yet. She had a baby Pokémon, and she'd rather train her adorable little one against weaker ones. Lazarus did say that swinub had been staying with him for awhile.

Chester faced Rose, flashing a lop-sided smile. He was often accused of being lazy and sleepy in class because of his naturally half-lidded eyes... Well, to be fair, he is lazy and sleepy, but he listens when the topic's useful or interesting. His Pokémon was immune to normal attacks, and probably have an advantage against Rose's swinub.

"Your choice, though. Battle me or skip me to battle Chelsea?" He asked, offering a choice.

Rose immediately sensed that Chester was the more challenging opponent here. His ghost type would naturally be immune to a majority of the attacks dealt by starter Pokémon. Gastly's natural grin seemed a little more smug to her than it did a second ago. She looked up at Chester. "Let's go then. You and me."

Swinub, seemingly catching on to the change of tone, looked back and forth from Rose to the twins and their respective Pokémon with a new interest. It gave a high-pitched grunt of concern.

Rose knelt and reached out to touch her Pokemon reassuringly. Its coat was thick and bristly and seemed to cover its small eyes almost completely so that the ice-type had to bob its head to tell what it was looking at. Swinub seemed a little wary of the situation, it wiggled like it wanted to back up.

"Swinub." Rose whispered kindly, "This is our first battle together as trainer and Pokémon. We don't know each other well, but... I'm rooting for you! Okay?" Rose held out her hand.

Swinub hesitated for a long moment and then pressed its hard, cold nose against Rose's hand and sniffed it deeply. What it was that Swinub learned about her by doing this, Rose couldn't really tell. Swinub had seemed about as impressed with her appearance as she had been with his; her voice hadn't done much to reassure him. But after he smelled her hand, his whole demeanor changed. Well... he was still basically a lump, but now he was clearly at attention.

Rose thought that was good enough for now. She stood up again. "Are you ready, Chester?" she stepped forward so that she was beside her Pokémon. "I choose Swinub!"

Chester tutted. He didn't know whether he was going to be impressed or not by Rose' decision. Their Pokémon were weak, and there she was, pitting the Pokémon she just got towards a Pokémon that may or may not have an advantage. A sure win she could have had if she battled with the togepi instead, knowing Chelsea – she would just forfeit.

"Obviously, I choose Gastly." He said, or proclaimed, with a lazy smirk on his face. The battle wasn't heart-pumping, to be honest, because only a few things could get him to feel livelier - and a battle between weak Pokémon isn't one. Losing or winning was of no consequence, as they were both new trainers.

Gastly seemed to be of the same personality with its trainer though, what with its confidence and carefree like persona. Later on, Chester would see in his pokedex that his Ghastly had a naughty nature.

"Keep your distance when not attacking, bud." He said, remembering that despite the type advantage, there was a chance that the swinub had that one move that makes ghosts tangible. The ghost Pokémon seemed to listen to him, and kept itself afloat, in front of his opponent.

"Gastly, hypnosis!" He commanded, knowing full well that his gastly would know the move.

Rose grit her teeth. She covered her eyes as pale circles began to emanate from the gaseous ghost. Swinub swayed and then sank lower to the ground, breathing heavily. It wasn't a big difference, actually, but Rose knew that her Pokémon was falling asleep. The psychic attack was especially effective and it wasn't long before swinub was snoring.

This was bad, she'd picked the fight and her opponent and now she was going to be thrashed. It was one thing to lose your first fight but to be completely shut out... Rose tried not to think about it. "Swinub, WAKE UP!" Rose, in a fit of desperation, yelled so loudly that several pidgey which had been sitting on the roof of the lab took off and circled into the sky. Unlike Chester, Rose felt extremely competitive, the first battle of her career had the power to set the entire tone of the journey.

Chester clicked his tongue. Rose knew the risks anyway, and he wasn't going to just give away a potential win because of pity. It would be an insult to both of them and their Pokémon. "Ghastly" Chester spoke, seeing that the swinub didn't look very awake and capable of any defense. "Lick!" And then he watched as his Pokémon did what he ordered to, not really feeling sorry at all. It looks like Ghastly was having fun anyway.

Rose couldn't tell if it was because of her desperate, slightly-embarrassing outburst, or the phantasmal tongue-lashing that swinub was taking, but her Pokemon woke up looking upset. It squealed and tried to run away from the ghost.

Ghastly looked positively ecstatic when the swinub ran around, and Chester couldn't help but think that maybe his Ghastly would be a bit terrifying when it grows stronger - as if it was a bit creepy right then. Haunter were written as Pokémon that sucked souls after all.

Chelsea watched on the sidelines, her arms around her togepi. Her brother was, she always thought, a mean spirited person underneath... Or yes, she always had been biased when it comes to people's choice in Pokémon. Watching his ghastly lick swinub, she hoped that her brother won't end up accumulating ghost types. She really didn't like ghost types.

Rose didn't exactly know what moves her Pokémon had, which was problematic, she found herself sweating again. Chester already seemed to know exactly how to use his gastly, like it was second nature. It was a bit frightening. The creepy ghost type even enhanced this unsettling vibe. Swinub had fled in a circle and ended up near Rose again. "Swinub!" she shouted, heart pounding. He skidded to a stop and looked at her. "Can you hit ghosts?" she asked. She knew he was an ice type, and a ground type. Maybe he could use powder snow... or mud-slap... Surely something.

Swinub grunted seriously. But he did not prepare an elemental attack, instead it did something that surprised Rose. It turned to face gastly and steadied itself. It lifted up its hard round nose and breathed in deeply. Rose waited for a flurry of freezing snowflakes to blow across the room but... nothing happened. She furrowed her brow.

What happened was that swinub, who could barely even see gastly, really, suddenly knew exactly where the smell was coming from... He had identified his target, but at the cost of a second turn.

The battle could have gone smoother in favour of Chester, but the moment he saw the swinub do a sniff thing, he guessed that Rose may have commanded the Pokémon to use odor sleuth. He wasn't very sure, but he didn't want to risk Gastly.

"Keep your distance after attacking, Gastly." He said, "Confuse ray!" He commanded.

Gastly only looked at him, and he almost rolled his eyes. The Pokémon still didn't know the move, which just confirms that gastly is weak.

"Astonish!"

Several turns later, Rose was getting excited. She could taste victory, almost like it was predestined. Gastly had a huge advantage over most starters by being damn near invulnerable, but somehow her hairy lump of a Pokémon was hitting it with what looked like normal attacks. Perhaps she had underestimated it...

"Go, hit it with everything you've got!" she cheered.

Swinub backed up. Gastly readied itself for an attack, it swooped low and hit swinub with a frightful lick attack, swinub looked badly hurt. Gastly swooped off, keeping its distance as instructed. But swinub was prepared.

The only warning the ghost-type had was the cloud of pale ice crystals forming in front of swinub before a sudden volley of small icicles shot through the air. They struck gastly with surprising accuracy. It was a critical hit. Gastly's big eyes closed and it floated to the ground defeated. Rose jumped for joy and dropped to her knees opening her arms for her Pokemon.

"Swinub that was amazing! You did it!" She grinned, positively glowing. The furball of a Pokémon shuffled over to her quickly but walked directly around behind her and put its nose up to her bag.

"Huh?" Rose tried not to feel put out about being snubbed by swinub, but why was it interested in her backpack?

"It seems Swinub was hungry." Lazarus smiled as the pig-like creature nosed open the satchel and pulled out the container of granola and the apple that Rose had packed at the top. "He has a very good sense of smell, I think he must have known immediately that you had food on you."

"O-oh. It's... a he then?" She asked. She hadn't even seen Lazarus come into the room again. He smiled his meek old-man smile and his broad, pale hand produced a sleek, green pokedex for her.

Chester wasn't that surprised with the outcome of the battle, what with the odor sleuth. Watching gastly get defeated... That was something he had to change soon. Gastly was his. Being his Pokémon automatically meant being connected to him, and he didn't want something connected to him to get defeated all the time. It would be hard, but training is important. He always had liked ghost Pokémon, and Gastly would get a nickname soon.

Holding the pokeball, he recalled his Pokémon, encasing it into a bright light and back into the ball it came from. "Rest now." He muttered with a slight smile, before turning to look at his twin.

His twin obviously was impartial towards the whole thing. He's her brother, but she didn't want to offend Rose with a glare or something. She's glad her togepi didn't battle the swinub. She would have reacted badly, after all – despite her honourable view of herself. Chester knew her better.

Lazarus moved over to the twins to administer their Pokedexes. They patiently waited for him to give them their pokedexes, but Rose got to Chester while the professor was presenting one to his sister. She offered him her hand. "It was a good fight. You commanded your gastly better than I did with swinub." It was no idle compliment. Rose really felt impressed by Chester's ability to control the wily ghost right away.

Of course, he shook her hand with a smile. "It was, wasn't it?" He repeated, pertaining to the 'good fight' they had. When she peeked back at her Swinub she saw that it... HE had eaten most of her food quite quickly and somehow already managed to fall asleep. "I'm sure you will be able to cooperate with your swinub, sometime." He pointed out, and his twin nodded in agreement. "It's just that gastly and I have the same personality." He added, before letting go of her hand.

"I'm kidding, of course."

In case, you know, Rose might view him as a nefarious guy, or the darker twin – as his twin often accuses him of jokingly.

Rose chuckled in a way that didn't quite seem at ease. She settled on saying, "You and gastly are a... good match for each other," having decided that was inoffensive enough. "And uh, I think there is a lot I could learn from you. You know? I'm sure you two were planning on doing the gym circuit together anyway, right? I was at least, but I mean... a journey is no fun by yourself. So, could I, maybe, if it's alright with you, you know, like, tag along, sorta?" Rose felt herself getting more and more timid. She had just battled with him and knocked out his Pokemon, surely they wouldn't want her around after that. She had been in such a hurry to battle that she hadn't thought this through very well.

With Rose' proposal, Chester seemed to think for a bit, so Chelsea decided to chime in. "Yeah, that sounds fantastic!" She half-yelled, glad that Rose didn't seem like she was going to cut herself off. There were only three of them that received starters today, and they're in the same town. It was just plain obvious that they were going to be travel buddies.

That, and she didn't want to get stuck alone with Chester and his gastly. She had had enough of her twin running around in the same house as her. She wanted a new companion who didn't have a creepy ghost. Swinub has its... own charms, anyway.

"Let's start tomorrow morning." She said, inching herself closer to Rose so she would be able to talk to her more clearly – efficiently cutting Chester off for a bit. "More preparation, after all. And we have to bid our mom a proper goodbye, and pack our things completely." She continued excitedly, and togepi seemed to twitter excitedly as well. If her Pokémon wasn't currently in her arms, she would have taken Rose' arm and talked more about other things.

Chester, who seemed to not really care that much, began to walk away. What his twin wants, she gets – so if she wants Rose in, then he might as well just let the girl into their travel plans. He didn't mind much. "Thanks, doc." He said, taking his Pokedex as he passed by the old man.

"Let's go home, Chelsea. Mom's waiting."

The twins seemed to be going, so Rose took a moment to thank Chelsea sincerely and bid her goodbye. She wanted to go home too. Her dad would be pleased to see her with her new Pokemon. She retreived her backpack from the ground, it was full of crumbs now. She sighed down at swinub. "Good job." she said. She reached out her right hand, holding the pokeball towards it and pressed the button. The beam of light shot out and swinub disappeared but a moment later it reemerged, startling Rose and causing her to drop the pokeball.

"Swinub, return!" she said more forcefully, but the Pokémon released itself a second time and rolled on the floor grunting with annoyance.

"Why won't he listen to me?" she said, turning to Professor Lazarus in surprise.

"Hmm-whaa?" He interrupted some wandering thought of his own invention and looked towards the disobedient swinub, while adjusting his absurdly thick spectacles. "Well. Do you have any food left?"

Rose checked her bag. Swinub had eaten about three days worth of supplies. "No, I'm all out. Wait! You mean the only reason he battled for me was because I had food! You can't be serious!" she groaned, burying her face in her hands. He doesn't respect me! My Pokemon won't listen to me at all!

She crossed her arms and turned to swinub. "Listen! I'm your trainer. We're gonna be good friends but we can't stay in this lab forever! Won't you come with me?"

Swinub shook its snout defiantly and snorted. "Why not? We won our first battle together! We make a great team!"

"...Nub!" it grunted.

"Okay, okay, so I didn't know your attacks and I was nervous, but I fed you! And I have lots more food at my house, c'mon."

Swinub hesitated again, but at the mention of more food it seemed to reluctantly concede. Ten minutes later Rose was back on her bike. Her opinion of swinub had come full circle in this short time. From complete distaste, to hope, to downright admiration at its ability to best Chester's gastly; now she was once again asking herself, why did I have to wake up so late?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 - Among the Pines

After she bid goodbye to Rose, Chelsea walked home next to her twin. Twin - and yet, it was only in a few things that they could 'feel' each other. And at the moment, she didn't know what Chester was thinking. Her brother was just as silent as ever, walking with both hands in his pockets and sporting the same bored, placid look on his face. It used to annoy her a lot, but now it annoyed her just a tiny bit. It was, half the time, his natural apathetic expression.

"Are you even excited?" She asked, because she couldn't help it anymore. He just looked so... not excited. Like nothing. Like, nothing happened at all. At her question, he just looked at her. A bit surprised, with that left-eyebrow-raised face of his.

"What?" Chester asked, "Oh, you mean about our Pokémon," he realized; his tone indicated that he was thinking of something else. "Of course I am. I mean, this is what we've studied a lot for. Mom and Dad are also excited for us, and it's kinda funny. But yeah, I'm excited. We prepared for this, you know," he pointed out, yawning for a bit. Gastly's pokeball was in his other pocket, his hand still holding it.

Chelsea seemed to accept his answer, and just hummed in response. They walked until they got home, and evidently, Mrs. Moon really was as excited as they were. "A togepi, oh my!" She excitedly hurried them in, hugging and huddling them into their home.

"I got into a battle, and my gastly fainted. Can you heal him for me, mom?" Chester asked immediately, sitting in a chair. They were all in the living room, and Chester was already drinking a glass of cold, refreshing water by the time he handed Gastly's pokeball to his mom. Chelsea talked, in the background, about what happened in the lab.

"A gastly, eh? Good for you." Mrs. Moon said pleasantly, smiling and glad. "My son always did love the odd Pokémon." She muttered to herself as she smiled, walking fast around the house. Gastly's pokeball vanished into Mrs. Moon custody, but Chester didn't mind. The ghost Pokémon needed the rest.

By the time Mrs. Moon got back into the living room, she had a plate of warm chocolate cookies.

"I am very proud of you two." She said, placing the plate of gooey goodness on the living room's table. "I'm going to call your dad and tell him about your new Pokémon. Eat cookies. Mommy will be back."

The twins found it very silly, the way Mrs. Moon talked and behaved with them, but Chester and Chelsea did what she told to anyway.

Rose spent the afternoon tidying up the house. She was anxious. Cleaning usually helped her calm down, except she spilled the bucket when she was mopping the floor, and broke a dish while doing the dishes, and she overloaded the washing machine and that was a whole huge mess.

"With the way my luck is today, it's amazing that you won that battle." she told Swinub. He had released himself and was stretched out on the sofa, scratching himself and shedding indulgently while she cleaned. He seemed to shed a lot.

At that point Rose decided to give him a bath, which he did not like at all: possibly due to his ground typing, it was hard to say. She had to wrestle him into the tub and he was quite strong; when she was done he was very poofy and smelled wonderful. Swinub looked about as murderous as he could manage.

Her dad came home around 6:00 with a big paper bag. Swinub immediately ran to great him and jumped at his legs like a puppy, grunting eagerly.

"Well hello there, little fella!" Rose's father said enthusiastically.

He set the bag on the coffee table in order to pet her new Pokémon, but it suddenly lost interest in him. Rose sighed dramatically. "Dad, do you have food in that bag?"

Rose explained the day's events while her dad fed Swinub leftovers from his dinner.

"It's good that your traveling with the Moon kids, I worry 'bout you out there on your own, you know."

She rolled her eyes, but secretly she was glad too. Mostly Rose worried about how much money it was going to cost to bribe her Pokémon for every battle. Probably a lot... Let's hope he keeps winning, she thought.

They spent the evening watching TV together (they were both fans of a period drama called "Blade and Apricorn"), and they talked about inconsequential things. Rose's excitement for her journey was building steadily, it didn't feel real somehow. Tomorrow she would leave home, but tonight just felt so normal... even with Swinub. Of course, besides being big, hairy, and in the way, he did not contribute much of a presence to the room.

She was surprised when he climbed into her bed and curled up next to her that night. His bristly hair was all over her the next day.

Rose woke up early and Swinub, still lazing in her bed, allowed himself to be placed in a pokeball after she fed him some carrots. She got on her bike as the sun was climbing into a cool spring sky and pedaled through the sleepy Saturday town and up to the big, pretty house where the Moons lived.

"Hey!" she called out. "You guys ready?"

As usual, it was Chelsea who had woken up first, before Chester. They had spent the night before doing nothing but preparing for their journey. Well, mostly it was Chelsea who did so, since Chester just walked around looking at what she was doing. Begrudgingly, he did help pack his things as well as hers, so it was okay for him to laze around a little. She was just anxious, so she double checked. They had potions and everything. She, for the most part, was pretty sure Chester had a bigger backpack. Food, probably. Her twin doesn't eat much but he was a picky eater so her brother probably packed his favorite food, along with some for his Pokémon.

Togepi, whom she probably would not give a nickname, slept beside her all night. The Pokémon absolutely loved her room, especially her bed. She hugged Togepi a lot, and thankfully she didn't really lose much sleep because of the excitement.

Chester, on the other hand, wasn't that enthusiastic when sometime that night, Gastly came into his room and roamed around. He could hear the ethereal sound of the ghost Pokémon moving around, and if he had been Chelsea, he would have been thoroughly scared and creeped out. He was mostly just annoyed. It seemed, despite losing, Gastly still liked him... for some odd reason.

Mr. Moon, of course, was still on a business trip. But, he did call, a lengthy call at that, and talked to them a lot. The breadwinner of the family was much more emotional and worried-filled compared to the proud, untroubled Mrs. Moon who was certain that their babies would be fine.

It was after their breakfast – Chester with his usual warm milk and lemon muffins and Chelsea with her sweet chocolate pancakes - that they heard Rose calling for them. They were ready, of course. They both hugged their mother, who embarrassingly kissed them on their cheeks, before they were let out of the house. Both Pokémon were in their respective pokeballs.

Chelsea looked at Rose' bike, before telling Chester that yes, they would need their bikes. It took a few minutes before they were out again, with their own bikes. Both were black in color, and the only distinguishing markings were their own names engraved on the metal between the handles.

"We're ready!" Chelsea sang.

Rose looked longingly at their shiny new bikes. The tires still had long tread hairs and clean black rubber. Her own cycle had a rusty red frame and some rather dusty whitewalls; it had given her almost as many scrapes and cuts as she had given it. Rose was a menace on her bike, consequently every motorist and pedestrian in their small town was wary of the clumsy red bicyclist.

After exchanging greetings with the twins, she pulled up the map on her pokedex, and they discussed their route. She explained that there was a short road up through the hills to the south, by this path they could easily reach Fallarbor by nightfall if they didn't have to stop too much. There were a few Pokémon in the forest of pine trees leading up to the mostly bare and dusty plateau at the foot of Hoenn's central volcano. Most of them were not particularly dangerous, although they should definitely be wary of skarmory.

"If we don't get jumped by wild Pokémon much." Chester pointed out, "Then nightfall it is." Truth be told he was looking forward to spending the night outside, underneath stars. Chelsea is squeamish when it comes to things like that, but he wasn't. In fact, he actually looks forward to any 'unfortunate' event that will force them to do things like camping out. It would be a nice experience.

"Let's start." Chelsea proclaimed, cutting off her twin's musings. She rode her bike, and pedaled off, moderately quickly, towards the road leading out of town. Chester and Rose followed suit, of course.

"You're not planning on catching any Pokémon nearby, are you?" Chester asked Rose, choosing to pedal a bit slower compared to Chelsea. "Training our Pokémon would be nice, but I guess being nearer to the city for the pokecenter would be convenient as well."

"I don't think so," She replied, trying to sound casual. "I just want to get a little better with the one I have now." Rose thought about her swinub in its pokeball, fearing that it would embarrass her somehow. Her backpack was practically bulging with food. "If we get into any bad scrapes before we get too far, we can just go back to the Doc's lab. He's got the equipment there to heal Pokémon, but he might be busy; you know how he is."

Rose kept pace with the twins as best she could and managed to avoid crashing into them (narrowly). Together, they turned onto the dirt road that led between the tall trees. Here the woods loomed up around them and above them. The pines hissed anxiously at their approach, harmless but sinister. Among the dry needles at their feet laurels and rhododendrons budded and bloomed, giving wild Pokémon cover to lurk in. Volcanic boulders, dark gray-brown granite balls, were tumbled through the forest and overgrown with moss. It smelled crisp, and fresh, and heady.

The going was easy, and the morning was cool.

"We don't go out very often, Rose." Chelsea said loudly enough for the other girl to hear. She, unlike Chester, likes to talk a lot, most of the time. She pedaled fast, or fast for her taste anyway. "I mean, yeah, we travel a bit when Dad takes us out for vacations, but that's not counted 'cause we have a strict schedule and everything." Not to mention they were always explicitly forbidden to wander off... And Chester always stayed in the hotels, liking the soft beds and the room service.

"We probably won't encounter many bug types on our way, and I hope not to see any." Chelsea continued, making a sharp turn to avoid a steep embankment, "I'm not a fan of bug types." Like seriously, they looked weird and nasty. Most of them, anyway. Choru, Mrs. Moon's leavanny, was one of the few exceptions. She liked Choru.

"I've been to Fallarbor a couple times by myself. I've seen Pokémon in these woods before, but nothing big, and this time of year bug Pokémon are rare." They crested a small ridge and the expanse of the forest stretched out below them. The sun was directly above them, falling through the pine branches to make dappled shade where they rode.

"One time, I crashed into a spinda on my bike, not too hard but... I thought it was hurt because it kept walking funny, but when I told my dad about it he just laughed, and laughed. Apparently they always act like that. But I think if we want to fight, we have to go off-road." Rose paused to take a swig from a water bottle and then tucked it back into her backpack.

Since they were still a bit near to their own town, they couldn't see many wild Pokémon, but they could all sense the presence of creatures nearby. A flash of feathers between the trees, a lonesome cry in the distance, bushes shaking as something made tracks at the sound of their approach. Their town had always been a bit secluded and unknown. For all Chelsea knew, it probably wasn't even listed on maps or something. The one she and Chester had brought with them had their town in it. But... they had bought it at the local store there, so it was understandable.

The forest was really nice though. It provided enough cool shade to keep them from getting too sweaty. They were off to a smooth start.

"I'm planning on training my Pokémon against wild ones." Chester suddenly spoke, breaking the nice silence. By silence, it meant the absence of humans talking. The sound of rustling leaves and needles was ubiquitous among the pines, after all. "So I probably will branch out after we reach the city, or even before." He wasn't really planning on always sticking to his twin, after all, and Rose even less so.

"The sooner we get to Fallarbor town, the better." Chester continued, yawning a bit. It was only a bit tiring, having to bike for awhile. They passed by a pond or two, and he swore he saw a fearow somewhere, but it didn't pay them any mind so they continued on their merry way. Once or twice, already, he had paused and stopped biking to drink water from his pack.

"You're right." said Rose, who was beginning to feel tired from all the biking they'd done as the hours passed. "I could really use a shower and a nap," she sighed, thinking about how she wouldn't be able to take afternoon naps on her couch any more.

He wasn't a fan of fast pace, which would have been moderate for most other people. He preferred just going slow and taking in the forest... But maybe he was just lazy. The way the trees thickened when they were halfway was quite nice, but now the trees were once again thinning a bit. He took it as a sign that they were close to Fallarbor town.

They suddenly arrived at a fork in the road. A big dead tree stood right in the middle of the two paths. "I think we're supposed to go right here." Rose said cautiously.

Suddenly some dry bushes rustled at the foot of the dead tree. A small brown bear toddled out into the road. "Teddiursa!" Rose whispered reflexively, just loud enough for the twins to hear. She pointed at the Pokémon, but didn't move for the moment. Had it spotted them?


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three - Mother and Child

Oh my god. Chelsea said, inhaling sharply. It s so... Cute! She grit her teeth, and dismounted from her bike slowly so as to not frighten the absurdly adorable Pok mon. As bad as it was, she hoped the parents weren t nearby... Or maybe it didn t have any parents at all. It seemed off to encounter the bear Pok mon alone. It was... uncommon.

Are you calling dibs on it? She asked Rose, seriously. She didn t care if she had to carry the Pok mon. She would get it somehow. She had a very soft spot when it came to Pok mon that were just plain in need of her company.

Chelsea. Chester called out, seeing the look on his sister s face. We may or may not be in trouble. What if there are Ursaring around here? He pointed out, frown evident on his face. Without getting off his bike, he took the only pokeball in his belt and released his gastly, just in case. Hypnosis could put the Pok mon out should it be spoiling for a fight. They couldn t afford to get into a big fight yet. Rose could bearly command her swinub, and Chelsea... Heck, his sister hasn t even been in a real battle yet.

"Chester is right," Rose seconded, keeping her eyes on the wild Pok mon. "Yeah, Chester is right," she repeated warily; she was feeling distinctly uneasy. "If its mother is around, we could be in a lot of trouble. ursaring are too strong for our Pok mon to tangle with right now."

The tiny bear flopped down on its haunches in a patch of grassy sunlight and looked at them curiously. It opened its mouth and let out an innocent yawn. "But," Rose began, steeling herself, "if you want to try to catch it, I've got your back." she said, trying not to sound afraid. "It will be your first battle with Togepi, are you willing to risk it? Do you have pokeballs?"

Chester, hanging back, sighed at Rose words. It seemed like the girl was supporting his sister s decision, and it wasn t good. Just for safety, he didn t get off his bike. It would be easier to avoid danger just in case somthing unpleasant went down. Gastly, his Pok mon, floated around him, seemingly ready to support him. Chelsea was his sister, and he really couldn t just abandon a very close relative... even if said relative is prone to making bad decisions.

Don t worry guys. Chelsea said, voice waxing confident before taking out her own Pok mon gently. The togepi was a bit confused at where she was, but immediately calmed when she saw her trainer. Don t be afraid. Use Charm! She commanded, fairly brimming with excitement. It was non-damaging anyway. Just in case the cute bear Pok mon was going to attack them.

But Teddiursa just blinked in surprise at the appearance of togepi. Rose gripped her bike handles a little more firmly and scanned the nearby woods for signs of movement. Togepi obeyed Chelsea easily, just as Gastly had for Chester. It trilled happily and faced the wild teddiursa. the moon-faced bear sucked its paw and looked on with an apparent interest. Togepi gazed at it and waved cutely. It was an adorable display and suddenly Teddiursa looked enchanted with Togepi's cuteness, it stood up and hurried over on two short legs. Growling cutely it hugged the slightly smaller fairy type, and sat down on its haunched is in the road. The sheer cuteness of Chelsea's Pok mon had distracted it quite effectively. Rose began to feel a bit silly for her anxiety about danger. There didn't appear to be any sign of a mother bear just yet.

Chester, on the other hand, didn t like it, not at all, or maybe it was just a sign of his paranoia. But the scene playing out in front of him put him quite on edge. It was plain that Chelsea was potentially endangering their lives just because of her obsession with cute things... He sighed again, because if she wants something, she s going to get very angry if she doesn t get it.

At the moment, Chelsea was evidently pleased. The bear Pok mon didn t look wild, or remotely like it was looking for a fight. So she did the logical thing in her mind. She went and cautiously crouched near her Pok mon who was currently being held by the teddiursa. Hello there. She crooned, smiling widely and trying not to frighten the bear Pok mon. I m Togepi s friend. Do you have any friend nearby, or parents? If you want... You can come with me, too. I can buy you honey and stuff. Togepi will be with us, too.

And then she did something Chester found completely reckless and stupid. She reached out, calmly, as if to stroke the bear Pok mon s fur.

On the sidelines, Chester was trying not to groan. Teddiursa have sharp claws. They re Pok mon, and not cuddly harmless creatures. Hypnosis, Gastly, he said in a low voice, so the teddiursa wouldn t hear but his Pok mon would. If that teddiursa make any sudden moves. He added.

Good Lord he never thought his sister was this stupid.

Wary Teddiursa moved out of Chelsea's reach. Togepi's charm attack wore off. It seemed to sense that it was the center of attention now and it was inwardly questioning their intentions. It gave Chester and Gastly a particularly cute little scowl and sniffed the air with its little black nose. It stood behind Togepi, which it didn't seem to see as an opponent.

For her part, Rose admired Chelsea's peaceful tactics. She didn't feel ready to handle taming wild Pok mon just yet, but the other girl seemed to have confidence in spades. But if there was one thing Rose had learned in her 24 hours as a Pok mon trainer, it was that food was a powerful motivator. She also suspected that in early springtime, when most of the bees had used up their honey reserves, that the normal type might respond well to such incentivization.

Moving as cautiously as she could, Rose slunk within hailing distance, laid her hands on her knees, and whispered her thoughts to the other girl. "You could try offering it something sweet? Maybe it'd like that." She said, and then added with a dramatic sigh: "my swinub is surprisingly cooperative when food is involved."

Chelsea wasn t deterred that the teddiursa didn t seem to trust them... yet. She still smiled widely, still coaxing the Pok mon to believe that she really doesn t mean any harm. What she wants, she gets. She took Rose input into consideration, and remembered she had some sweets in her backpack. Cautiously, she took them out. She had candies, of course, (Chester rolled his eyes at that. He never thought of bringing candies). The various confections nested in crinkly paper of different colors and they tempted with assorted flavours. After his last trip overseas, Mr. Moon had brought home a few bags of them for her, as he usually did, because he knew she loved sweets. Lastly, she also took out the bag of Pok mon food that was supposed to be for Togepi who didn t seem to mind sharing with a friendly stranger; the little half-egg Toge-pi -ed supportively as they all seem to focus on Teddiursa.

I promise I m nice. Chelsea said. I ll take care of you. Togepi likes me because I m her friend, an trainer. I can make you strong and I want you to be on my team. She continued to talk, itching to hug the cute Pok mon and just go on their merry way. We re going to travel, and see lots of exciting nice new things. Wouldn t you love to go an adventure with us? It would be fun!

It would be more fun , Chester thought snidely, if Gastly could just use hypnosis and Chelsea stopped being ridiculous and acted like a normal trainer. The teddiursa was a wild Pok mon. It s not raised to be someone s starter Pok mon. He really tried not to be the bad guy, but seriously... He was pretty sure Chelsea could have easily captured the Pok mon if she asked for help from him or Rose. Two against one would be easy as pie. And they wouldn't waste nearly as much time playing tea-party.

He can t just say that, though. So he just stood there and silently endured the absurdity it all from astride his bike, while gastly orbited his head, grinning.

Teddiursa, sniffed the air when Chelsea produced the sweets from her backpack. The normal type inched closer, under the encouragement of the chirping Togepi. Rose watched intently from just a little behind the other girl. Closer, came the little bear, and closer. finally... It reached out a paw.

"Urrr...!" it gurgled, reaching upwards like it wanted to be picked up, actually. It's big black eyes seemed to soften and it begged cutely. Rose was shocked! Apparently it wasn't at all hard to convince. Teddiursa were not unable to care for themselves, but this one was very young, still a baby really. Even though it was a fuzzy head taller than Chelsea's starter, who was now cheering and standing on one pastel tip-toe. To Rose, who was sort of a tomboy, the idea of raising two infantile Pok mon, struck her as challenging. But she considered the idea that it would probably end up creating a powerful bond of trust between them. Chelsea already looked like a mother to her Pok mon. In a way, Rose envied all three of them. Her mother had never been a part of her life. She was a trainer too, or so her father told her.

Chelsea was very happy. She took the teddiursa into her arms and hugged her baby. Yes, she got what she wanted, when she wanted to. I m going to take care of you, darling. I don t have any honey now but I ll make sure you get some as soon as we reach the city. She told Teddiursa softly and adoringly. The baby-like Pok mon wasn t very heavy, but it wasn t as light as togepi either. It hugged her in a comforting soft tight way. It was like a teddy bear was hugging her. It took a lot of will not to squeal and suffocate the Pok mon with a tighter hug.

It only took a few minutes for Chelsea to turn towards Chester and Rose, with that wide smile growing wider still on her face. Let s go. She said, before reluctantly putting down teddiursa back to the ground. The Pok mon almost didn t let her go seemingly liking the warmth of her hug. It looked at her with cute blinking eyes, questioning her why she put him down. I can t carry you all the way to the city, since I ride a bike. How about I, She paused, opening her bag and taking one pokeball out, use this and you rest here for awhile? Her brother and her had been given one each by their parents and instructed to just buy more from the nearest city. It was fortunate she had been given this one. One was enough.

Teddiursa merely looked at her, tilting his head and raising his arms as if to take the pokeball. Obviously, Chelsea did what she wanted to do. One bright flash and Teddiursa vanished. The pokeball dinged once. No struggle. The wide smile turned into a confident smirk, and togepi, on the ground, cheered her trainer on.

She laughed, poking togepi gently before withdrawing her into her own pokeball.

Chester, who had been grudgingly watching the whole time, scoffed. Annoyed, he said, "That sure took some time." He wasn t impressed at all. He knew it would be so like her to do that whole taming thing.

Let s go. He told the two girls, withdrawing gastly, and then holding onto his bike. Or night will catch up to us before we get to the city.

Night caught them before that. Chester was glad enough when, after they ascended a little farther into the hills, he realized that there seemed to be no Pok mon who wanted to encounter them. It was really a good thing. Because after he had biked from morning 'till night, his legs were starting to get a little bit cramped. His sister had always been much sportier than him, but in terms of endurance they re still on the same level. It was getting chilly, and before he knew it, it was already dark. He shot an I told you so look towards Chelsea, who only stuck her tongue at him knowing what his message was instantly.

The road and the ashy scrub forest of mingled pines and birch were beautiful and lonely and sinister in the twilight. The road, which was eroded from the heavy rains that usually blew in off the sea coast in winter and spring, was treacherous for their bikes in the dark. Rose checked the map on her pokedex; the pale light of the screen made her face look ghostly in the semidarkness. They were maybe about three miles from Fallarbor, and they had not had any encounters like the teddiursa. The Pok mon in the forest seemed unusually skittish, in fact. She had seen them slinking and slithering away into the brush as she rounded corners and passed boulders all afternoon.

When Rose paused to look at her pokedex, he took the time to open his bag again and drink some water. He didn t want to get dehydrated. It was then that he decided to let Gastly out of his pokeball. The Pok mon seemed to appreciate it, too, since the night had always been the element of ghost Pok mon. It would be training for Gastly to keep up with them as they biked and it wouldn t be too hard. The only reason he hadn t done that earlier was because it was still bright out.

Not long after that, Rose had put a little distance between herself and the twins. A pair of red lights up ahead caught her attention and she let her bike coast quickly downhill until she caught up with a big pickup truck that was crawling down the poorly-paved road into a sharp corner on a ledge. She gasped suddenly. In the back of the truck, was a heaping something draped with black tarp, but from underneath hung a massive, brown paw, limp, bloody, and lit up red by a brakelight. She stopped and stared aghast. The truck continued down the road and turned off to the right up some weedy driveway and vanished in the trees.

"Could that be Teddiursa's mother?" she wondered to herself

If Rose hadn t gasped as he pedaled up, Chester wouldn t have paid much mind to the truck. He was busy keeping an eye on Gastly as it wove between shadowy trees when turned to see what had caused her surprise. A brown paw. Now, he s no expert when it comes to all Pok mon, but he knew that something that size, and something of that colour, in this area could only belong to a specific Pok mon.

Chester saw how Chelsea looked, too, and it was the exact expression that Rose wore.

Before you two get any ideas, He started to say, his voice oddly calm and low. We have four weak Pok mon, and we only got our starters yesterday. We can t do anything stupid tonight.

Rose nodded grimly. "We'll ask some questions when we get to the Pok mon center. We have no idea what happened, I know it looks bad, but we can't assume it's poachers." She kicked up her bikestand and leaned on the handlebars. "And even if they are, Chester is right, if they took down a Pok mon that big, imagine what they could do to us, or our partners?" She looked at Chelsea through the damp darkness, "I was really hoping you wouldn't see that but, it's really strange to find such a young Teddiursa with no mother, and this solves that mystery, but now we've got another one on our hands, We're going to have to stay in the area for a while anyway, we're not strong enough to cross the desert to get to Mauville, or go through the mountain to Rustboro, which means we're gonna have to train in the area around Fallarbor." Chelsea still hadn't said anything and Rose, who was behind her now, reached out and put a hand tentatively on her friend's shoulder. "Are you... alright?"

When Rose touched her she almost sneered, but then she remembered that Rose wasn t her indifferent brother who mocked her at times. Of course I m fine. She replied in a clipped tone. I m not stupid. We can t do something like that. Not yet, anyway.

Rose words made sense; Chelsea knew it... but that didn t mean she wasn t about to get upset. Don t get her wrong she was glad she now had Teddiursa in her team, but that didn t mean she could just brush off a mother Pok mon being taken away by men who were probably poachers. Actually, she didn t know what to feel. If the ursaring hadn t been taken away by those guys, then she wouldn t have Teddiursa. Does that make her a bad person? If she had been like her twin, she wouldn t have to deal with feelings. Chester was a real piece of work when it came to having a conscience.

It really made her angry that there were such bad people in the world. She almost forgot about it sometimes, because of the cloistering shelter their lovely town. And what pissed her off even more was the fact that she couldn t do a thing about it, right now.

Let s just hurry up. Maybe we can report it to some officers. She said, inhaling deeply and trying to calm her beating heart. Then she proceeded to bike, much faster but not in a careless manner. With the way she was biking angrily, always ahead, she was the first one to get to Fallarbor.


End file.
